A mini is just that, a mini kit, not a sample. And the kits come with sponges so no real need to buy one. A mini is 1/4 of a full kit. Mini kits are nice because there's no measuring. You just mix everything and grout. Epoxy grout needs to be done very quickly. I definitely wouldn't suggest anything more than a mini for a beginner, even that will be stressing you out to finish.

Thanks very much, Jon.

I'd like to use it on the shower floor, but for now I'm only testing it on the small sample board in the photo. Can I mix a small portion of the material, and save the rest?

If you measure the components very, very accurately, yes, you can do that.

Thank you, CX.

For experience sake, I decided to mix the entire contents. I put the entire contents of the mini unit, the A, B, and C, in a cooler with ice packs, one hour before I sampled it. I mixed it in my garage; it was 85 degrees. Half of the contents I put in a bucket and place the bucket in a cooler with ice packs, the other half I left out in a bucket in the garage. The half that was in the cooler was still workable even after 90 minutes. The half left in the bucket in the garage was workable one hour later.

I have three questions:

1) I'm hoping to finish my 31" by 31" shower floor with one mini container, but if I don't, I'll have to get another mini container. For those who have used several mini containers on the same project, should I be concerned about color consistency?

2) I'm planning on using the matching silicon caulk at the seems of the wall, and curb. Do I caulk where the wall and mosaic floor tile meet, and then caulk after I install the wall tile, at the seam of the mosaic floor tile?

3) The instructions indicate to use a topical sealer or grout release product on unglazed porcelain tile. I didn't do that with the sample, but I want to do it on the shower floor. What products should I consider?

Laticrete told me it depends various factors such as the thickness of the tile, the size of the grout joints, and the size of the tile. Based on these factors, I should be able to grout nine feet of tile, which is more than what I have.

Jon, did you mix the C units together beforehand? Did you have any problem with color consistency?

Thank you,

__________________
Joe

Last edited by TileDisciple; 07-17-2017 at 10:22 AM.
Reason: Forgot to ask question.

Maybe I'm wrong but it looks like you have excessive slope on your floor, if you do, that will make the joints harder to line up.

Hello Davy,

The wall tile is 5/16" thick. In the areas where the wall tile covers the gap, do I leave the gap alone, or fill it? I had planned on adding cut tiles to the areas where there was a larger gap.

Yes, when I made the mudpan, I made the pitch much steeper than it needed to be. This made it more difficult to get the Kerdi membrane embedded, and now it's like piecing a puzzle together to get the grout joints to line up.

Plus, depending on the wall tile size, you could have 1/8 of thinset, sometimes a little more. So the wall tiles may cover 7/16 or so.

Good point, Davy. Thank you

Best practice is to caulk every change of plane, so I should use caulk between the wall tile, and the floor tile, correct?

Since I'm planning on grouting the shower floor before installing the wall tile, it's going to be very difficult to avoid getting grout in the small space between the Kerdi-board wall, and the floor tile. Do I need to be concerned with this? Should I remove the grout that gets in that space, or not worry about it?

Or maybe it's better to install the wall tile, and grout last, doing everything at the same time?

Here are some photos of the shower floor. I used two mini units of SpectraLock Pro Premium Mini grout. I decided to go with #85 Almond, instead of the bright white. Although there was enough product to in one mini unit to get the job done, it got too stiff to work with, so unfortunately, I had to use a second unit, and most of it was thrown in the garbage.

Hi Joe, sorry we missed your last question. Looks like you grouted to the walls which is fine. You can caulk the joint along the bottom after you set the walls. Just shim the tiles up off the shower floor about 1/16 to 1/8.

Hi Joe, sorry we missed your last question. Looks like you grouted to the walls which is fine. You can caulk the joint along the bottom after you set the walls. Just shim the tiles up off the shower floor about 1/16 to 1/8.

Hello Davy,

I actually used the matching caulk by Laticrete, Latasil, to caulk the gap between the walls and the floor tile. I love the SpectraLock Pro Premium Grout, and the Latasil caulk. The color of the caulk matches perfectly.

The tile I chose to install on the shower wall, and curb, didn't come with a matching bullnose. I'm considering three options to bullnose the tile I purchased so I can use it on the shower wall, shower curb, and shower niche.

My first choice is to purchase a bullnose blade. I watched a couple of videos, on how to do this, and I'm leaning towards this choice. Well, I just called tech support at Rigid, and asked about using a bullnose blade on the 7" wet saw that I own, and they advised against it. So I'm left with the other choices or someone might choose to give me another option.

My second choice is to cut the tile at a 45 degree angle, and after purchasing grout colorant to match the grout that I'll use, paint the colorant over the cut portion of the tile.

My third choice is to cut the tile at a 45 degree angle, then polish the cut portion of the tile using an orbital sander with diamond grit sandpaper.

My last choice is to search for bullnose tile that will closely match the field tile.

As always, I appreciate your advice.

Thanks much,

__________________
Joe

Last edited by TileDisciple; 09-16-2017 at 01:23 PM.
Reason: Rigid tech support advised against using a bullnose blade on the saw that I own.